At the Crossroads of Time
by Atki Aurora
Summary: This is about how Team Rocket find a rare necklace and figure out that they can travel through time with it. It's Time Squad's mission to get the jewel back and return the team to their own time. Hope you enjoy! :D
1. Chapter 1

_One_

Jessie wandered through the forest, still dazed at what had happened to her. The events preceding that moment did not pass quickly, but reflecting upon them, she could hardly believe that they had happened at all. A cardinal spied at her from a tree branch, twitching its head, as if to get different angles to view the wandering stranger. Jessie found a quiet river, and sat down on a nearby rock. She stared at her own reflection, and was not surprised to see the various bruises and scratch marks on her face. She fingered the marks, and began to cry quietly. After a few minutes she wiped away her tears, and took out her Rocket uniform, which she had been carrying. She smiled faintly as she remembered all her moments in that uniform. In fact, she had practically lived her whole life in it. She frowned as she remembered what it stood for, however. She was a thief, and her purpose had been to steal from others for the sole purpose of gaining for herself. In the last days, all the thanks she ever got for her actions were the resulting deaths of the two closest friends she would ever have. She felt as though she would cry again as she thought of her boss, Giovanni. He had quit talking to her ages ago- so what would it matter if Jessie quit now, forever? Of course, it would be a little difficult to get used to wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but it would be well worth it. Without hesitation, she threw the uniform into the river. She knew that memories stayed in her head, not in a useless uniform. She then reached into her pocket and took out a ruby necklace that James and Meowth had given her a few days before. As she stared at it, a lump grew in her throat so big that it momentarily cut off her breathing. This was the small object that had killed her friends. It seemed to stare back at her, always asking her that same cruel question: "If you could change all that had happened to you, would you?" Yes, she had thought about it. She thought about James and Meowth's acts of selflessness, protecting her to the very end- all over that stupid ruby necklace. Every time she remembered their love for her, she grew more decisive about her destination. No, she would not change a single moment of it. At that thought, she turned red with guilt. She knew that any other person in her situation would change the very moments that killed her friends. But she knew that had she changed those moments, she would not remember those kindest deeds that any friends could do for others. Besides, they were finally at peace. They could rest in Heaven, continuing their acts of kindness by looking down on her, watching her steps. She nodded at the finality of her decision, and with disgust, she threw the necklace into the river, and walked back through the depths of the forest.

But the necklace continued to float down the river, forever remembering the events of the former Team Rocket within its deep red jewel.

Meowth Yawned and stretched in the hours of the early morning. The sun glowed in the red sky, and early morning stars faded back into the night. He foggily remembered the events of the preceding night, how the team's rival, Ash Ketchum, had once again sent them flying out of sight, landing them in the forest they occupied currently. He glanced over at his two companions, who were snoring loudly in a nearby bush. Standing over James, he slapped him awake. James jolted out of his sleep, and was about to scream with a start had Meowth's paw not covered his mouth first. With his other paw he made a sign to stay quiet, and then glanced quickly over at Jessie to make sure that she was still sleeping. He then turned his attention back to James, irritated. He spoke with a hoarse whisper. "Shush! You wanna wake her up?" James only stared back in confusion. Meowth removed his paw, letting James sit upright. "What's going on, Meowth?" "Don't you remember what's in a couple of days?" "Ummm… Is it a promotion? Because that would be really great." Meowth grabbed onto James's collar and shook him violently. "No, you dimwit! It's Jessie's birthday. Have you even thought about what you were going to get her yet?" James stared blankly. "I didn't know she had a birthday this year!" Meowth gritted his teeth and squinted. "I ain't surprised. That's why I thought we'd get a head start on swipin' somethin' nice for her. Well, what are you staring at me like that for? Let's go, before she wakes up!" James scrambled to his feet, and followed Meowth into town.

It was a hot muggy June morning, and most of the shops and museums were still closed. With school out, the kids were sleeping in and without the stress of school, the adults were most likely sleeping in too. It was virtually a ghost town, and was ripe for the taking. Meowth smiled as he spotted a museum. "There. We'll try there first." They snuck around to the back, and opened the door as quietly as they could. Their eyes dilated in the darkness, and Meowth looked around quickly. Pots, skeletons and paintings stood in their places, but he knew that Jessie would take pleasure in none of these things. He motioned for James to follow him as he turned on his flashlight and wandered down a hallway. He whispered back to him, "keep an eye out for anything you think Jessie would like". They glanced around, finding nothing of interest. At the end of the hallway they came to a locked, vaulted steel door. Meowth muttered, "somethin' _really_ valuable must be in there! We've gotta get in there." After many years of practice, Meowth was a master at opening vaults. He pressed his ear to the door, and turned the padlock. Finally he heard a "click" sound, and opened the door. Once Meowth's eyes rested on his prize, he could hardly stop staring at it. It was the prettiest ruby necklace he had ever seen. Nevertheless, he took his specialty goggles out to check for any protective lasers. There were none. Meowth then went to work at cutting it out of its protective case. After a few minutes, he turned around to see why James wasn't making any moves to help him. Instead, he was reading a plaque. Meowth's eye twitched with irritation. "Hey, what are you doing? We don't have any time for readin', we have to get this back to Jessie!" James glanced at the cat worriedly. "But look here. This plaque says to anyone who gets this necklace receives a blessing and a curse. What do you think that means?" "That means that this is a very expensive treasure. All of these valuables have inscriptions like these on 'em. Now c'mon, help me with this." James sighed, and lifted the case as Meowth was halfway done with cutting through it. The cat sighed at all his wasted work, but was happy to finally have the treasure. At that moment the museum lights clicked on, and the faces of the two thieves paled. Meowth's paws were shaking, practically dropping the necklace. To his surprise, however, he felt himself being picked up by James and carried to a high window. It was all Meowth could do to suppress a yell as James threw him out, and luckily, he landed on a tree branch inside of a tree. James then jumped out himself, and landed in a bush below him. It was a good thing they were well hidden, for in the next moment dozens of police cars passed by them on their way to the museum. After the coast was clear, the two thieves made their way back to the forest.

Jessie awoke to the glaring of the sun through the leaves of the trees. She stretched; feeling refreshed as one could be, sleeping on a bush all night. In fact, she hadn't had a good rest like that in a very long time. She stood up and glanced about. She was slightly surprised when she noticed that her team members were gone. "Probably to get food", she muttered sleepily. She was a little hurt that they decided to go on without her. She looked for a stream to wash her face in. Then, she turned suddenly to a sound of rushed footsteps on rustling leaves and twigs. Sure enough, it was James and Meowth, the latter carrying some kind of red, stolen treasure. Now she was especially hurt. "Hey, why didn't you two goons try to wake me if you wanted to go on a heist? I'm just as much a part of Team Rocket as you are." The two smiled back, though panting very hard. At last Meowth held up the object for Jessie to take. She stared at it, gaping, not knowing quite what to say. "And you got away with this? How did you…" The words died on her lips, she was so awestruck. Truly this was the greatest thing they had ever accomplished- so far. They looked at her with s glimmer of pride. Meowth spoke first. "Yep, we sure did. We got up at the crack of dawn to do it, but we got you that birthday present." At this, Jessie's eyes began to shimmer. So that's why they didn't wake her. "Ohh, you two… It's so beautiful! I have to put it on right away." She stopped immediately when she noticed that they began to stammer. "Y-you can't do that just _yet_", explained James. "Y'see, we escaped just in time… The cops are out there looking for us, and we'd be dead if they ever found that." She shook her head. "I should've known. Alright, we'll hide this for now. But you two need to learn how to be more careful." They nodded, and continued to whisper excitedly about the early morning heist.

By that afternoon most of the shops were closed, and wanted posters were distributed throughout the town. Jessie glared at her two friends, and they only smiled meekly and shrugged back. Meowth said quietly, "well, it could always be worse." James added, "yeah, we could be caught." At this Meowth angrily stamped on his foot, which he responded with a smothered "ow! That hurt!"Jessie sighed miserably. "Well, now you two have done it. Now how are we gonna get to the other side of town?" In response, they simply shrugged. She stared back at them in irritation. "That's always your answer to everything. Fine, I guess it's up to me. But it will definitely involve you two." They gulped in response. They leaned behind the nearest tree behind the town, watching the police pace to and fro. After Jessie's plan was explained to them, she said to Meowth, "quickly now". Meowth then jumped out from behind the tree, walking on all fours. He then walked up to one of the officers, and rubbed and purred excessively against his leg. As the officers bent down to pet him, the other two Rockets made their way quickly across town. As soon as they signaled to Meowth that they were safe, he leaped from the crowd and into the other forest across town. The officers shrugged, and then returned to their posts. James stretched his arms. "We sure make a good team, don't we Meowth?" The cat glared back at him. "That's easy for you to say. You didn't do nothin.'" Jessie interrupted. "Quiet, you guys. We're not out of trouble just yet. We should probably hide further on in the woods." They nodded, and headed quickly into the darker areas. Before they knew it, they could barely see their hands in front of their faces. They grew more irritated as they began to continually bump into one another. Finally Jessie exclaimed, "ouch! Will you quit shoving into me already?" The other two winced, for the sound echoed throughout the woods. Jessie then said much more quietly, "just try to be more careful." After a few more steps, they were forced to stop because they could no longer see anything. "I wish my Arbok knew flash", said Jessie miserably. James replied, "so how long are we going to stay here?" "Until we know they'll be less suspicious." Meowth retorted, "but that will take weeks! We can't just stay here forever, and we certainly can't wait till night." Jessie grabbed Meowth's arm in irritation. "Well, then _you_ tell us what to do! I'm all out of ideas." Luckily Meowth was a cat and could see the basic shapes around the complicated darkness of the woods. He had Jessie hold onto his tail with one hand, and James's hand in the other. As they walked, they finally saw a glimmer of light as the trees began to spread out more and more, and it looked more like a forest than a jungle. The team sighed with relief. Jessie smiled. "Oh, good. It's nice to be able to see again. I guess we owe you one, Meowth." But Meowth's attention was diverted to other things. The other two stared out at the direction that Meowth was staring. Much to their mortification, they recognized the group of Ash, Misty and Brock- their rivals.

At any other time, they would have been eager to take them on in a Pokémon match. But now, all they could focus on was getting away with that necklace. They ducked down in the bushes, and hoped to wait it out. Fortunately the trainers were terrible at being observant, so they walked right past the team without one bit of suspicion. Unfortunately, as if right on cue, James had to have a sneezing fit, and his sneezes echoed in the woods. The Rockets cringed, knowing that it was all over. The other group turned quickly, poke-balls in hand. "Who's there? Show yourselves!" Ash yelled. As it was no use to hide anymore, the team rose out of the bush, displaying a confidence they didn't really have at the moment. Jessie posed. "Yes, it's us. What do you twerps want?" Ash stepped forward. "I want to know why you were hiding from us in those bushes. What are you hiding?" "We were just minding our own business. You just- startled us, that's all." Misty glared. "Oh really? The town behind us had a necklace missing from their museum. And you are here in the forest hiding, just minding your own business? If you're clean, prove it!" Presently Jessie wished that she could just blame the other two, and be on her way. Knowing the consequences, she stood her ground. "Listen. You twerps do what you want, but this is our big break. We're giving that necklace to Giovanni, and we're getting our promotion. It's about time we've had good luck!" James and Meowth simply stared, eyes widened. Ash's eyes narrowed. "Out of all the sleazy things to do… Pikachu, go! Thunderbolt!" The Pikachu leaped from Ash's shoulder, and Team Rocket cringed, preparing for another flight. Presently James muttered, "Oh, how I wish I could be at home, and not dealing with this!" The lightning sparked from Pikachu's cheeks, but much to the team's surprise, the sparks began to dim, and faded altogether. In fact, everything began to dim, and a reddish hue replaced the bright green of the woods. Then to the team's confusion, the forest faded out of sight, and there was nothing but darkness.

Jessie sat up first. As her eyes dilated to her environment, the first thing to hit her was nausea. She held her head in her hands, trying to get herself back to normal. After the first feelings subsided a little, she looked around. She was surprised to find herself in a wealthy neighborhood, with a few trees surrounding the houses. She began to panic, wondering who brought them there, and what kind of trouble they would be in after the necklace was found in their possession. She then looked back at her two friends, still unconscious in the grass. She shook them awake. She noticed that they were trying to fight off the nausea as well. After a few moments they stood and looked around. "Where are we?" Meowth asked. James appeared to be a little more shocked than the others. "Call me crazy, but… This looks a lot like my childhood neighborhood." Still enrapt in memories, he began to smile. "Hey, this _is _my old neighborhood! C'mon, I'll show you where I lived." The other two followed him a little ways down the street, and at the end of the cul-de-sac, they stopped at a perfectly huge mansion. James beamed with happiness as the other two gaped. "See, this is my house! Oh, how I missed it…" Meowth and Jessie stared at each other in astonishment. "But how…" They asked each other. They stayed back at the gated entrance as James strolled past the front lawn to his house. After ten minutes he rejoined his friends. "No one was home… And I don't have the keys anymore. But it _is_ good to see my old house again." Jessie shook her head in disbelief. "This is crazy. How did we end up here? Who could've brought us here?" Meowth touched his paw to his chin. "Well, let's see… What happened in the events leadin' up to this?" Jessie looked up at the sky. "That Ash twerp caught us stealing that necklace. Then he sacked his Pikachu on us, and then…we woke up here!" James casted a worried expression. "Well… I did say that I wished I was at home so I wouldn't have to deal with the twerps… Ohh, and this morning when we were stealing that necklace, I read a plaque that said anyone who had it received a blessing and a curse. So… Maybe this necklace brought us here, because I wanted to be here." The other two remained thoughtful, but then Jessie began to scoff. "Oh, that's nonsense. How can a necklace knock us out and drag us to your neighborhood? No… Someone had to have brought us here. I don't know who or what, but…" Meowth interrupted. "Now wait a minute! James could have a point here. Besides, if it worked this time, why shouldn't it work at other times? Why don't we test it out at another place?" James handed Meowth the necklace, and as the team huddled around him, he stated the place of his own birth. With a flash, a reddish hue covered their surroundings, and blackness again took them over.

This time the nausea didn't hit them as hard. They blinked, and took in the sight of a back alley in a downtrodden area of a big city. Jessie remained speechless, as James muttered "well I'll be…" Meowth was gaping. "This is it! This is where I was born! It _was_ this necklace after all!" Jessie stood up. "But… This is impossible! How can a necklace bring us to all these different places?" James smiled, and Jessie's irritable nature returned to her. "And what could possibly be so funny, James?" "Well, Jessie… Don't you realize what this necklace could mean for Team Rocket? Imagine how many rare Pokémon we could steal with this! And think of all the bonuses we would get!" By now Jessie was smiling as well. "James, what a great thought! Of course, why didn't I think of that? Yes, it would be very good for our reputation. With this necklace, we could even be Rocket Executives- maybe even second to Giovanni himself!" At this thought they began laughing wickedly to themselves. After they recovered themselves, Jessie said, "alright Meowth, let's get out of here. We have a Pikachu that's been long overdue for the taking." Meowth, however, was busy getting reacquainted with his childhood friends. He gasped as James caught him up by his scruff. "C'mon Meowth, let's go! We have some Pikachu swiping to do!" Muttering under his breath, Meowth gave directions to the necklace, and again, Team Rocket vanished away.

When they opened their eyes, they were surprised to find themselves in a Pokémon Center. They were more surprised to see Ash, Misty and Brock looking down at them. The team gave a short yell, and stood their ground at once. Jessie pointed her finger. "You! What are you brats doing here?" Misty snorted. "Well that's one fine thanks we get for saving your miserable lives! You looked like you died when you disappeared and reappeared in the woods. The nurse said you had excessive pressure in the brain, but you should be fine now." Ash scratched his head. "What happened to you guys anyway?" "Don't you think if we'd know, we'd tell you?" lied Jessie. Misty raised an eyebrow. "Would you?" Jessie glared back, but their stares were interrupted by the entrance of the nurse. She was busy trying to shake off Brock, who was trying to win her love as usual. She looked relieved to see the team awake and fighting. "Oh, you three gave me a big fright. Your brains were struggling for oxygen when you came in. What was the last thing you did?" James heard Ash whisper to Misty, "that's not all their brains struggle for." Jessie scoffed at the nurse. "It's obvious. These brats challenged us to a Pokémon battle, but we tried to resist. Next thing we know, he sacks that Pikachu on us! Then we woke up here." One truth was as good as another, but… Ash and Misty glared, but the nurse waved them away. "I'm sorry folks, but I'm afraid you'll have to let them rest for awhile. They'll need at least a couple of hours of recovery." So the group left, leaving Team Rocket in the recovery room alone.

Jessie frantically turned towards Meowth. "_Please_ tell me you have the necklace." In response Meowth opened his mouth and took out the red jewel. The other two sighed in relief. "Good, all's not lost," Jessie beamed. "But we'd better get out of here quickly and unnoticed. C'mon, to the nearest window." James looked out quickly, but turned to them and shook his head. "I'm afraid it's no use… The twerps are out there. We're stuck." Meowth rolled his eyes. "Are you two dimwits or what? Why don't we just escape by using the necklace again?" The other two could've slapped themselves for that. "Right," said Jessie. "Let's go somewhere- I don't care." Meowth stared into the jewel, and vacantly entered a date. Once again they were off in a flash.


	2. Chapter 2

Two

Otto Osworth frantically pressed the A button on his game control as he steered toward his enemy, Tudrussel. The two were lost in battle, while their third companion, Larry, was preparing dinner in the kitchen. After about five minutes, Tudrussel stood up with a look of disgust on his face. "Otto, you cheated! There's no way you could've beat me like that. That just weren't fair." Otto gave a short laugh. "You're just jealous because a nine-year-old beat you at your own games. Besides, maybe you just need more practice." Tudrussel glowered. "More practice! Why, I been playin' these games for years…" Otto smiled and wandered into the kitchen. "Is dinner ready yet, Larry?" he called. "Almost", was the echo. Otto sat at the table, and Tudrussel took a seat next to him, still upset over the loss. Otto couldn't help but whisper, "sore loser". In response Tudrussel pounded his fists on the table. "Dang it Otto, you'd better quit that. I ain't in the mood." However they looked up impressed as Larry entered with a plate of warm hamburgers and a three layer chocolate cake. Tudrussel's mouth began to water. "Wow, Lar. What's the occasion?" The robot placed the plates on the table. "Don't you remember what occasion this is?" The others thought for awhile, but shook their heads. Larry continued. "Why, it's the one year anniversary from when we first abducted- I mean, adopted Otto!" "Ohhhh", they responded. They remembered clearly the moments in that dingy room of Sister Thornley's orphanage. Otto couldn't have been more grateful to escape from that place. He smiled. "You guys are the best ever", he replied. Tudrussel smiled, forgetting the petty drama a few minutes before. Larry motioned for the two to eat. "Well, dig in! We don't want to wait until a mission comes up and come back to cold food. C'mon, now!" The two members obeyed and started gorging their faces. Larry stared back in satisfaction, especially at Otto. Without that nine-year-old orphan, the two older members would've been expelled from the team of Time Squad a long time ago. In fact, they were on the brink of failure when they accidentally met him. This sudden intrusion in Otto's dingy room had resulted in (Larry thought so anyway) a sort of forced relationship, driven by desperation to leave the gloomy orphanage. Anyhow, as the days and weeks dragged on, real feelings began to produce, and they all have stuck together close as a family ever since. Plus, it certainly helped that Otto knew all he did about history. This saved the team from the aforementioned fate, and in fact, in time they began to look sort of good. Remembering this, Larry smiled as he made his way to the control room. When he saw the computer he was surprised to find that they had a missed alert. "That's odd, usually the alarm goes off." He checked and found that Sheila had called them personally. Larry couldn't help but remember all that had happened between her and them through the years. She had married Tudrussel and gotten along for awhile, until she realized that he didn't exactly keep up with her, physically and mentally. He was sort of a child, and she began to treat him thus. When he figured out what she was doing he was offended and told her so. She replied that he needed to be talked down to, because that was the only way he would cooperate and understand. Constant arguing of this kind quickly resulted in a divorce, and she had been a distant acquaintance to the team ever since.

The recent recording said: "Larry, this is Sheila. I need you to call me back, because I need to personally give you a mission." Larry shrugged and couldn't help but wonder. He called her back, and her face appeared on the giant computer screen. It was hardly in her personality to smile. She was red-headed and professional, partly made that way by her former relationship with Tudrussel. Larry spoke first. "Hi there, Sheila. You called?" She nodded. "I did. I have a mission for you that I think you'd be interested in. Two people and a cat found a valuable necklace and figured out they can travel places and through time with it. This group is found harmless; however they are thieves and are likely to steal. I would like you to confiscate that necklace and return the group to their time." Larry gave a confused look. "Yes, we'll try our best, but… Why did you think we'd be interested in this? And wouldn't they be harder to catch since they're traveling through time at random?" "You didn't let me finish", she replied. "Based on our findings, these three are a part of a group called Team Rocket, a team dedicated to stealing animals called Pokémon and returning them to their boss, Giovanni. This team has a reputation of being notorious; however this group hasn't caught a single Pokémon, thus disappointing their boss and cutting off his communication with them. In other words, these three remind me a lot of you three. Perhaps you could be the most qualified to catch them." Larry blinked, and Sheila grew uncomfortable under his hurt stare. "Listen- I've got to go. Good luck." Just like that, she disappeared and the computer screen went blank.

Larry walked out of the room pondering her words. What did she mean by that team being just like them? Obviously their own team had communications with their bosses, and thanks to Otto, they were doing more than fine in their missions. However, although Larry wouldn't describe themselves as thieves, he couldn't exactly deny it, as he eyed an ancient vase that they had "taken" from Cleopatra's domain. "Perhaps she was just a little off today because the stress is getting to her", Larry thought. He returned to the living room, where Tudrussel and Otto had resumed playing video games. "Alright, I've gotten a message from Sheila that we've gotten a special mission." Tudrussel stared zombie-like at the TV. "Can't it wait till we're done?" "No! We'd better do this how; you know how our bosses get if we wait too long without going on a personally asked for mission!" Larry rubbed his hands nervously as Otto got up to turn the game system and TV off. "So what's our mission?" Otto asked. Larry explained it to them in a slightly more appealing way than Sheila had, and their eyes lit up at once. "Now _that_ sounds like a mission", Tudrussel said enthusiastically. Otto hopped around excitedly. "A team like us? I wonder if they have a kid my age? What things will he like? Ohh, I'd better pack some games so we can do two player." As Otto scurried to his room, Tudrussel became thoughtful. "Wait a minute, Lar. This mission sounds a little vague. Who sent you the mission? What does this team look like? What time are they even in?" Larry shrugged. "Well, honestly… Sheila didn't mention those things. Good point Buck, I'd better call her back and ask." Tudrussel cringed at the sound of her name. "Aww, I knew it. This mission sounded too good to be true." Larry hesitated. "Well, I'm sure it won't be all that bad. Maybe we'll even like them, and communicate with them and become friends!" Tudrussel said nothing and raised his eyebrow. Larry smiled nervously and the two headed to the computer room to clarify on Sheila's call.

Meanwhile Otto was gathering objects in his room in anticipation of meeting the team just like them. Although he never mentioned it, Otto was a little lonely for companionship of someone around his own age. His one and only friend, Johnny, was left behind at the orphanage. Otto never did fully get over the guilt of the separation, but he had learned to master it by pushing it to the back of his mind. He packed a couple of history books.

A half hour later, they met each other in the control room. The gloomy looks on Larry and Buck's faces were not lost on Otto. However he decided to ignore it and clenched his backpack tighter. Larry raised a finger in warning. "Now Otto, I'm glad you brought your entertainment with you, because I'm not sure how long this mission's going to last. It was requested to us by Sheila, so this is definitely not going to be an easy mission." Otto nodded. "Actually… Most of the missions end with you and Tudrussel at each other's throats." Larry laughed nervously at that blunt fact. "Now Otto, let's think about positive things. You might have a new friend by the end we're done. Erm… Let's go, shall we?" The three stepped into their time machine compartment, and Larry entered in the date. Soon enough, they were off to meet the team just like them.

They reappeared at the same time and area that Team Rocket would normally dwell. The first thing that caught Otto's eye was a telephone pole with a wanted poster attached to it. The picture was of a blue haired boy, a pink haired girl, and a cat with a shiny gold charm attached to its forehead. They were wanted for stealing a valuable necklace from the town's museum. Otto looked up at his team members. "Hey, you didn't say what this team looked like." Worried, Larry took the wanted poster from Otto. "Well… According to Sheila's description… They look just like these three here!" To hear this Otto couldn't help but be disappointed. He had hoped to meet someone his age, someone he could relate to- and these three on the wanted poster held no attraction for him. He said nothing. Tudrussel looked around quickly, and then turned back to his companions. "I don't see these punks anywhere. Aww man, I wish there was some way we could cheat and throw 'em in jail so's I can get back to my video games." Larry replied, "you can go at least ten minutes video games and laser guns. Working actually does take some work, you know. "You'd better watch it, pal" Tudrussel muttered between his teeth. Larry simply waved away the remark, returning his attention to the poster. He said gloomily, "I'm not sure how we'll ever find them. They could be anywhere in history! How are we alone supposed to accomplish this? I admire Sheila's confidence, but sometimes she just asks the impossible." Tudrussel said to himself, "that woman has it out for me." Otto stared hopelessly at the ground. "I guess… Maybe the best thing we can do is just wait here and hope they come back." Tudrussel said miserably, "that Sheila ain't patient, especially to me. She always made sure I was miserable just for her own amusement. You know she'll wait for about a day, and then report us to our bosses!" Otto stared back, surprised. "Tudrussel, Sheila's _never_ done that before! Where did you get that idea?" "She _would_, first chance she got." "Nooo, I don't think so." Their petty argument was interrupted by the town's gathering around Larry. Otto and Tudrussel found themselves on the very outer edge of the crowd, struggling to get to their companion. The townspeople were amazed with the robot, and many of them were poking and trying to open him to see what was inside. Larry was trying to do what he could to keep to himself. But the others kept prodding him. "What kind of pokémon is it anyway?" "He's not a pokémon, he's a robot." "No, he's a pokémon. He's the steel type!"

As the crowd continued to argue, another trio walked towards them. They met Otto and Tudrussel and questioned them about the gathering crowd. "Oh, they're just checkin' out our companion Larry," Tudrussel responded. "Though I don't see what's so great about him. If they had to live with him, they'd see that the only _he_ does great is nagging." The person in the middle, apparently the leader, replied, "so they're interested in a friend of yours? He must be pretty interested, then!" Tudrussel rolled his eyes. Otto said, "hey, are you guys natives of this town?" "No. We traveled a ways to get here, actually. We're pokémon trainers!" A downcast expression appeared on Otto's face. "Oh… Actually we were looking for a team from here, and I was wondering… Were you at least familiar of a gang called Team Rocket?" To Otto's surprise, the trio clenched their fists in anger. The leader replied, "of course we are. A bunch of ingrates they are, too. We saved their sorry hides after they fainted in the woods, then they tell the nurse that it was _my_ fault they were like that! They make me sick, the bunch of greedy cowards." Otto and Tudrussel stared back, very surprised. The leader then apologized for his sudden anger and hastened to introduce himself. "I'm Ash. And these are my two friends, Misty and Brock." Tudrussel responded, "well I'm Buck Tudrussel, and this here's Otto, and the robot in the middle of the crowd is Larry. We're here to find that team and bring 'em back to their own time, and take that necklace from 'em." The trio stood back, totally amazed. Misty said, "you must know them better than you lead on, then! Yes, they have a necklace, but… What was that other part you said?" Tudrussel waved his hand. "Aww, forget it. Ain't nothin' you can do about it anyway. But we gotta get Lar and get goin'." Ash nodded. "Okay. Nice meeting you!" Thus the two companies parted, and instantly lost sight of each other as bodies squirmed together by the ever-increasing crowd, each determined to catch a glimpse of Larry. Tudrussel shoved his way through the crowd, Otto following meekly behind.

As for Larry, he was looking desperately all around for Tudrussel and Otto to appear and save him. People from all sides were poking him and messing with his gadgets, and taking pictures with their cell phones. He tried to shove them off as best he could, but their curiosity took over and continued their prodding even more fiercely. Over the crowd's constant talking over one another, the words Larry could make out were "new pokémon". He didn't know what that meant and didn't care- he was just praying for someone to drag him out of this mess. Unfortunately, someone _did_ try to drag him down- a rough looking hiker man, over-eager with his discovery. "Yes, you're definitely the metal type. Ohh, the battles I could win with you!" As the man began pulling him down, Larry struggled with all his might to get out of his grasp. He shoved, kicked, and even tried to twist the man's limbs to loosen his grip. Alas, his grip was tighter than ever around Larry's arm, and Larry was looking more desperately than ever for his members' two faces to appear in the swollen mass gathered around him. He didn't see them- the man was succeeding at pulling the robot down, and Larry was beginning to let him. It would have happened sooner or later anyway. The man smiled wider, realizing that he was indeed succeeding.

All at once, the crowd gasped and screamed, looking up in terror. A helicopter floated overhead, close to the heads of the crowd. It was black with the exception of a red "R" painted on the side. Through the open door on the side, appeared a blonde girl with long spiky pigtails. She wore a uniform; and the mark on her shirt was the same as the mark on the side of the helicopter. Apparently everyone knew who she was but the Time Squad team. In amazement and curiosity, Tudrussel had quit pushing through the crowd to glimpse at the unusual spectacle. The girl laughed wickedly, about to make a speech. "Foolish crowd. You've made yourselves big enough to catch my attention- and what do I find?" Here she eyed Larry, still gripped by the stranger. "It looks like a never before seen pokémon." She stood for a moment pretending to ponder. "Oh, what shall I do? Well, I suppose since you good people found it first, I'll let you take it and use it for your own idiotic amusements." She smiled wickedly. "No, I don't think I will after all. See, Team Rocket is a rational team, using pokémon to become the best they can be. Who doesn't want a pokémon with benefits? Take for example, the Magikarp, the weakest and most useless of all pokémon. But treated right, it becomes a Gyarados, one of the most powerful and useful pokémon ever! But enough talk." She waved her hand at the pilot. "Take it, and let's go." As soon as the command was out of her mouth, a giant magnet descended out of the bottom of the helicopter. Larry's magnetic body was immediately attracted by the strong waves of the big magnet, and he flew up and stuck to the metal. The magnet then ascended back up into the helicopter, and instantly it flew off. The crowd stared in amazement.

After a few minutes the fickle crowd began to thin and then eventually disappear, leaving only two people behind. Tudrussel and Otto stared at each other, each expecting the other to find an answer. At last Otto spoke. "Tudrussel, this is _really_ bad. What the heck happened to Larry?" Tudrussel found it hard to talk. "I dunno kid, but… we gotta do somethin'." "Well no kidding!... Okay, yelling's not going to solve anything. Let's think of a plan. Umm…" Otto paced while racking his brains for a plan. Tudrussel watched, somewhat hoping that Otto wouldn't ask him to think. After awhile Otto looked up, with a worried expression still on his face. "Well… I guess we have to work with what we saw. We saw the lady and what she looked like, so maybe we could explain her to the police…" Otto's face suddenly became firm. "That mark, Tudrussel, there was a mark on the helicopter and on her shirt- a red 'R'. That's pretty distinct… Yes, that should do it. C'mon, there's no time to lose. We have to go to the police and get information!" Tudrussel shrugged, and the two ran back towards town.


	3. Chapter 3

Three

This time Team Rocket was standing on their feet when they reappeared. Although they all experienced extreme headaches, they were happy not to cause a scene. Then they blinked, and scanned their surroundings. There were boxes everywhere, and cranes were scattered by them. Jessie concluded that they were in an abandoned warehouse. Several windows were shattered, and the boxes looked like old, judging from the amount of dust on them. Her voice returning to her, she managed to say, "I guess… We're in an abandoned warehouse. Meowth, what year did you take us to?" Meowth, startled and embarrassed, muttered, "I… I don't really remember! I just took us anywhere else than where we were, like you told me to." "What? Well, you better know at least _where_ you took us." "Ohh, yes! I took us to New York. I figured it was a good city to escape to." Jessie scowled. "Well, you better be right. We'd better start getting information and walking around, though."

Team Rocket exited the building and found themselves at a fairly busy intersection. Most people were on their cell phones or walking their dogs, looking like they had an important agenda and nobody better get in their way. Many noticed the team, and laughed as they walked by. Jessie flushed. "I don't think we can wear our uniforms out here. We'll have to wear disguises." They went back into the warehouse and started opening the boxes. Much to their rare luck, there was civilian clothing in one. After dressing, they resumed to wandering the streets. It didn't look all that different than what they were used to, so Jessie began to think that they were still in their own time; just a different city. Presently James said, "hey Jess, I was wondering, can we stop somewhere to eat soon?" Meowth added, "yeah, I'm starvin'." At this, people stopped and stared confusedly, wondering if they had heard wrong and it was actually James that said that rather than the cat. Jessie picked up Meowth gently and pretended to hold him for the public's sake. She clenched her hand over the cat's mouth and whispered, "don't you go saying anything and exposing us in front of all these people! You just stay quiet and James and I will handle all the talking." She dropped Meowth and they continued on their way.

They stopped at a bus stop and pondered where to go from there. They were miserable from walking and just wanted something to eat. The bus stop was fairly crowded so the team was forced to stand. Jessie and Meowth looked around casually, planning ahead, but James couldn't concentrate no matter how hard he tried. He knew that he was being watched, but he didn't want to be rude and stare back. He tried to remain at least looking casual and pretend not to notice, but it was becoming increasingly hard to do. Eventually James got so irritated that he was afraid that he was going to explode. Finally he turned his head to see what was staring at him. It was a young girl, around high school age. She had a small smile on her face that was obvious she was trying to hide, but doing a poor job of it. James wondered why it was he of all people she chose to stare so intensely at. Before he could say anything, she began speaking. "Hi. I've never seen you around here before. You new?" James was confused, seeing this was a big city and people come and go every day. Nevertheless he responded, "yes." Now she let herself smile more. "Well, glad to know you. My name's Katlyn, and I'm a junior in high school. And you are?" "Umm… My name is James, and I dropped out of school awhile ago." Katlyn got up and walked closer to him. "Well, I live here, so I can show you around if you want. Where are you staying?" James glanced over at his team members worriedly before replying, "well… nowhere right now." At this, Katlyn's eyes lit right up. "Oh! Well hey, we have and extra room in our apartment if you wanted to stay there. It would be easier for me to show you around if you do." Jessie and Meowth noticed the conversation with James and Katlyn, and were watching with interest. James smiled politely and responded, "well that's very nice of you and all, but… I'm afraid I can't. Y'see, my- sister and cat need a place to stay too, and I can't really abandon them…" Katlyn nodded, looking a little disappointed at James's dependants. "Well… I mean, I guess we could make room for them too…" James looked back at his team and smiled. "Y'hear that, Jessie? We have a place to stay tonight!" Jessie and Meowth stared back uncomfortably, but nodded. Katlyn smiled. "Good. Are you guys hungry? We have some stuff back at the apartment. Let's go see what we have." Looking forward to a good meal, the team followed Katlyn back to her house.

The apartment wasn't very big, but it was big enough to be considered cozy. It was warm and nicely decorated, with hardwood floors and a fireplace. The team's hopes rose a little more. Katlyn baked a frozen pizza and they all enjoyed lunch together. However Meowth wanted to sit at the table like everyone else, but Katlyn prevented him. She dumped some cat food in a bowl and put it on the floor. Meowth stared in disbelief at Jessie, but she harshly gestured him to eat that. In response Meowth sat next to the bowl, arms crossed, coldly watching his team eating the pizza. Katlyn watched, a little disturbed at how fast the two humans ate. "Since when did you guys eat last? You act like you're starving!" With his mouth full, James responded, "sometime yesterday, maybe." Katlyn glanced over at the microwave clock, which showed that it was almost 4pm. "Here, I'll make another pizza."

Full and happy, Jessie, James, and Katlyn sat on the couch watching TV. James grew uncomfortable when Katlyn began leaning on him. He asked, "so, when are your parents coming home?" "Ohh, my parents travel for business meetings all the time. They won't be back for a few days." Jessie had been watching the whole scene and noticed the remorseful look on his face. Katlyn didn't seem to notice. "So, tell me a little about yourselves." Jessie and James gave a brief and vague description of their past, and Katlyn listened with great interest. Her eyes sparkled intensely as James told his story. She was especially happy when he told her he was 17. "Ohh, wow! That's how old I am too! We're all the same age!" Jessie returned the comment with a sarcastic smile, but Katlyn didn't seem to notice this either. Presently the doorbell rang, and Katlyn got up to check who it was in the peephole in the door. She turned red, and said to the team, "hey- would you guys mind going to the back room or something? I have to take this- it's kind of personal." Jessie and James reluctantly obeyed, but Meowth remained, assuming as he wasn't a human, his presence didn't matter.

She rushed to close the back room door where the team was, then opened the front door to a tall, lanky teenage boy. He had several ear and eyebrow piercings and blue-dyed hair. He looked pissed. "Hey Kate, I got your text. Why do you wanna break up with me after all these months? Huh?" She scoffed. You know why. You would just stop by my house every night drunk and chewing me out about something. And it looks like tonight was no exception." "Hey- no, you got me all wrong. Just let me in and we can settle this all right now." "Stop, Brendan! You're not coming in and if you try, I'm calling the cops!" Brendan looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Hey Kate, I thought you said you didn't like cats! Your area of interest really changed lately, didn't it?" He pushed his way through Katlyn and staggered towards Meowth. The terrified cat didn't know what else to do so he shoved himself under the couch. Meanwhile Katlyn was yelling in the background, "Stop, Brendan! Don't you know he's scared of you?" Brendan smirked as he reached under the couch. "What are you talking about? Cats love me!" He pulled out Meowth by the scruff of his neck. Katlyn reached for Meowth but Brendan held him away with on hand and held the other hand out at her. "Whoa, not so fast. First you gotta tell me about why you dumped me. Tell me the truth. You got a new crush this week? What's his name?" Katlyn could see that her fighting for Meowth was useless. She stepped back and answered. "Alright. His name is James. I just met him today and I probably won't ever see him again, but just looking at him once made me realize that I can do so much better than you." Brendan laughed. "I bet you're gonna see him tonight, though. But hey- I'll find out, and I'll be there. See you tonight." He dropped Meowth and slammed the door on his way out. Katlyn made her way to the couch, sat down, and put her head in her hands for a few minutes. Then she got up and opened the door to the back room. "Okay, I'm done. You guys can come out now." They noticed by the expression on her face that her personal business had not been pleasant. Surprisingly enough, Jessie and James had not been trying to overhear the conversation. Instead they were conversing about how to use the girl to their own advantage when it came to stealing pokémon. However, they admitted, they were a little surprised to not find any pokémon around the city. "Not even any Grimer in the sewers," Jessie added. Still, they weren't really looking. Perhaps they would just have to try harder, James suggested. Jessie agreed on that, but the conversation ended there. Secretly, James wanted to talk about Katlyn's infatuation with him, but he feared Jessie's laugh and ridicule- and that was especially something he didn't need right now. They returned to the living room and sat on the couch. Katlyn said, "I need to go call my mom. You guys just stay here. Okay?" She disappeared into her room.

Jessie and James leaned over to Meowth, who was still dazed on the floor. Jessie said, "so what went on in here? Was it interesting?" Meowth was still so nervous he could barely talk. "We-ll, her o-ld boyf-riend came over and they- fought… He was s-so drunk… Then they f-fought over me…" Meowth then lay on the floor, weak from the conversation. Jessie went to the kitchen and returned to Meowth with a couple of pizza slices and a glass of water. "Here, stuff your face. You weren't grateful enough with the cat food, which is what you should be eating. After all, you _are_ the cat type." Meowth instantly devoured his meal, and the team noticed the life coming back to him. He stood up and was about to say something more, but Jessie shushed him. Katlyn came out of her room and down the hall. Jessie snatched the dishes from Meowth and set them on her lap. She smiled at Katlyn awkwardly and said, "I was still a little hungry." Katlyn shrugged. "That's alright." She glanced over at James, who stared at the floor, trying so hard not to be noticed. "You say you guys dropped out. I have school tomorrow, and no one to go with me. Ohh, but… the house needs to be watched over, too… Hey, I've got it. James, why don't you go to school with me tomorrow? You could then at least get my high school diploma, and more people would hire you in the future. Really- it could definitely help you in the long run." Jessie was about to make a remark, but Katlyn interrupted her. "Jessie, I would really love it if you stayed here. It's just that, you having a caring face, and you look like you can do so much it's just that I really envy you for it. I would really love you to look over my house- I totally trust you." Jessie looked pleased and flattered at this stream of compliments. James figured that she had been unloved so much of her life that she could practically believe every petty excuse that came her way. Katlyn nodded happily. "Then it's settled. Tomorrow, you'll get to see what New York life is like! M'kay… James, you'll be staying in the back room. Jessie, the couch pulls out into a bed and there are fresh linens in the hall closet. See you guys tomorrow!" She smiled and retreated back to her room.

Jessie leaned back over at Meowth, ready to hear more gossip. But James lay back against the couch, a look of total despair etched on his face. Meowth carried on his conversation in a low tone. "Yeah, they was really gettin' in each other's faces about her breakin' up with him. He was mean lookin', too, like he just came in from off the streets. 'Course, the ol' drunk looks right at me and stumbles towards me. I didn't know what else to do, so's I hides under the couch. But he grabs me and before I know it, I'm a hostage and the only way he'd let me go is if she told 'im who she liked this week. She says Jimmy, and 'course you can see him gettin' angrier and angrier. Then he said he'd see her tonight. That's about it…" James remained in his despairing position, his top thought being: "the inevitable happened." Jessie sat wide-eyed and gaping. "Well… I wonder if that's really true, or just a front she put on just to get rid of that creep. I guess we'll just have to see tomorrow." She looked over at James and rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, James. I wouldn't be surprised if that was just a cover up she had. If it makes you feel any better, nobody likes you." In an insulting but strange way, that did cheer him up a little. Jessie concluded her charm with, "now get off the couch so I can try and sleep. You go to bed too." Jessie strolled to the closet and got her linens and began making her bed. Meowth walked to the fireplace and curled up beside it (even though it wasn't on). Seeing that they had nothing more to say, James shrugged and went to the guest room, and shut the door.

Meowth ran back up to Jessie as she whispered, "we'll leave as soon as we see them walking outside our window. We'll secretly follow them the rest of the way." Meowth nodded. "I'll get the binoculars- I saw a pair in one of the livin' room drawers." "Great. Now all we need is the necklace. Where did you say you put it?" Meowth hesitated. "The… What?" "The ruby necklace. Where did you put it?" Meowth grew red and stuttered. "Well, I… I don't have it with me _now_…" Jessie sat quietly with her hands folded in her lap- a gesture that terrified Meowth. She said calmly, "well then, where is it?" "Well… err, the last time I had it, I needed to put it in a place for safekeeping… so… I think I put it in James's pocket." At this Jessie's facial expression did relax, and Meowth eased a little too. "Oh, that's all," she replied. "Well then, knock on his door and ask him to give it to me. I'll need it for tomorrow." Meowth took a few steps away from her and said, "actually… I think I put it in his uniform pocket… I mean, I don't really know-" Jessie grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and got in his face. "And our uniforms are still at the warehouse, aren't they? Well, I know one easy way to fix this. _You're_ going to go, and you're going to go get them right _now_." Meowth started stuttering, but Jessie interrupted him. "Now don't you start whining about the city at night; you of all creatures. You were born and raised in the ghetto, just like me. Now get going so you can come back and sleep, because we're going to have a big day tomorrow." She opened the front door and shoved Meowth out, and watched him scurry down the stairs before closing it again. Then she promptly went to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Four

Jessie watched James leave with Katlyn the next morning, but didn't follow them. Meowth never returned, which left her feeling a little guilty. Her first thought was that something had happened to him. "Or," she reasoned, "he purposely stayed at the warehouse all night just to get back at me." Suddenly, a horrific thought occurred to her that he could have easily taken the jewel and went back to his own time with it. She grew red with anger. "If that's what that cat did, I'm going to beat the living daylights out of him!" Of course, that was only if he decided to come back for them. She headed for the door. "Well, no use sitting around here moping. I might as well check around, just in case something _did_ happen to him." She left the apartment.

James felt like he was wasting his time, following Katlyn to school. He thought of all the rare Pokémon they could get, and how much money they would make in their promotions. Instead, he was attending high school with a creepy girl- and his best friends weren't beside him. Hopefully, if he could get through this day then the team could go back to their own time and get to business.

The classroom scene had always appealed to James. He had always been a decent student up until he dropped out to work with Pokémon. He smiled as he sat in the desk next to Katlyn, remembering the long afternoons he had stayed after school helping Jessie with her homework. Often they would work on it until Jessie grew frustrated and gave up, declaring that school was useless anyway. She would make something out of her life without it.

The teacher walked in, and every student in the classroom pulled out a laptop. "This must be one of those rich schools," James mused. "Funny, though; it looked pretty mediocre from the outside." The teacher motioned for the students to settle down, and she began her lecture.

"Alright, today we are going to talk about functions and statistics. Please go to the course page and look at section 2.1." James grew uncomfortable as he noticed that he was the only one without a laptop. The teacher approached him.

"You must be new. Where is your laptop?" Laughing nervously, James responded, "well… I don't really have one. I'm just visiting for a day is all. If you need me to leave-"

"No no, that's alright." The teacher returned to the front of the room and typed away on her own computer. Her facial expression was nothing but dull and tired since she had walked into the room. James shrugged, looking increasingly forward to the end of the day with every minute that passed. After awhile he looked over some students' shoulders, noticing that most of them were on facebook, not really paying attention to what the teacher was saying. He then wondered why they got to be amused with a laptop while he had to sit there diligently. Luckily, he put a pad of paper and a pencil in his pocket before the team had embarked on their mysterious travels. He took them out and began doodling.

Almost immediately he felt like he was being watched. Sure enough, he looked up to see every person in the classroom staring at him, eyes widened in horror. He glanced up at the teacher, who was speechless and red in the face. When she finally found her tongue, she narrowed her eyes and muttered, "give me that at once. It's one not to be able to afford a laptop, but _never_ scribble on physical paper like that. Honestly, some technophobes have no respect at all." She hastily grabbed the pencil and pad away from him, and hurried out of the room. By now every student in the classroom glared at him as well, and James flushed red as he sank in his chair. He wanted to ask why drawing was such a terrible thing, but for the moment Katlyn was pretending that she never knew him. James stayed silent for the rest of class and avoided all eye contact. As soon as the bell rang he was the first one out of his chair and out the door.

He hurried down the hallway towards the exit. "There's no way I'm going to do something stupid that'll make people hate me even more," he mentally concluded. Katlyn caught up to him by the time he was ready to push open the front door.

"Hey, where are you going? We still have a whole day left!"

Astonished, James replied, "didn't you see what just went on in there? One second I'm drawing, and the next everybody hates me. I don't know what's going on here, but I'm ready to go home." Katlyn latched onto his arm and pulled him away from the door.

"Please James, you have to stay here with me today. Maybe you just grew up in a really remote area somewhere, and didn't know. Is that right?"

Sorrowful, James responded, "all I know is that everyone at the school hates me now! I _really_ have to go." She pulled herself closer to him, growing more tactful.

"Here, I'll just tell you how things work then, because I'm sure you just don't remember well or something. Okay, so trees are extremely rare now, unlike 50 years ago. So we have to take care of them now, or they will die. If they die, we die, because we need trees and plants to live, right?" James looked a little dazed as he said thoughtfully, "I guess so."

"Good. So there you go. There are a few jerks out there who still want to kill trees and write on paper, but luckily their kind is dying out. They need to realize that it's time to move forward! We're in a new age!"

"You mean you never learned to write? Only type?" Katlyn waved the matter away with her free hand.

"Ohh, I've fooled around with chalk or spray-paint a couple of times. But after I got caught by the cops for graffiti-ing, I never bothered again. It's all nonsense anyway, especially when you have a template." A blank look ensued on James's face as he thought, "what monstrous year did Meowth take me to?"

He asked aloud, "what about books? The kinds with pages in 'em that you can pick up and read?"

Katlyn laughed. "Wow, seriously? We only see those in museums nowadays!"

"But… Not that long ago, there were at least twice as many books as people on Earth! What happened?"

Katlyn stared at him in disbelief, speechless for a moment. Finally she said, "what planet have you been living on? They were all confiscated. Scientists thought that there were ways to manipulate cells on the pages and make them kind of act like seeds again."

"And?"

"Well, it kind of worked- but it takes a **lot **of books to make a few tree seeds."

He hardly knew how he got there, but he soon found himself sitting at a desk in Katlyn's next class. He kept his head and eyes lowered during the whole class period, and hurried out and waited for Katlyn when the class was over. He knew that the whole school knew about his classroom incident by now, and all he wanted to do was hide himself as much as possible. He followed Katlyn to the cafeteria, and waited for her at a table as she hurried to get their lunches. He clasped his hands together and rested them on the table, wringing them occasionally as he began to zone out. He wondered how Jessie and Meowth were doing without him. For a brief second, he worried that they were so sickened by this environment that they simply left without him. He shook his head and tried to think of more pleasant things. He imagined himself battling the twerps with his newly stolen Pokémon and winning. He imagined his team presenting Ash's Pikachu, along with Latios, Kyogre, Mewtwo, and many more to his pleased boss. "We'll be rich and powerful enough, yet!" he thought. Just as he began to smile, a fist slammed down on the table and jerked him back to reality. James looked up, and saw a group of guys and a few girls standing across the table, looking down at him.

The leader said, "I heard what you did in class today. You think you're being funny, screwing with people's lives? We don't need technophobes in our school. Technology saves lives, paper ruins them!" With that, the leader finished his argument by spitting on James's face, and walked away, looking as though he had won a righteous cause. James was wiping his face with his sleeve by the time Katlyn returned. She bit her lip nervously as she muttered, "I hope you like hot dogs. That's all they have left."

Amazed, James responded, "Did you just see what that brat did? If I had my Wheezing, that twerp would be breathing out of an oxygen tank for the rest of his life. You did see that, didn't you?"

Looking away, Katlyn quietly responded, "… yes."

"Then why didn't you do something about it? You could've at least told a teacher or something."

Katlyn sighed deeply. "Well… drawing on physical paper is a bad thing, after all… Complaining would be like being a technophobe. I'd just rather not be involved." James stood up, and made as though he was leaving. Perplexed, Katlyn asked, "where are you going?"

"I'm going to get my Pokémon from the warehouse. Then I'll make that kid sorry he was even born."

Katlyn laughed. "Pokémon? Seriously? James, you're cute, but you are the most ridiculous person I've ever met." Ignoring the comment, James left the cafeteria at a rapid pace.

The warehouse was about 15 minutes from the school. James never slackened his pace, even when crossing busy intersections. Mentally, he watched the preceding events over and over, and wondered what he could have possibly done to receive the amount of hatred given to him by student and teacher alike. Even Katlyn wouldn't help him, when she saw the scenarios with her own eyes. James's ego had no doubt been humbled, and it was never like him to simply take insults like those with silence. "I'm going to get my Wheezing and go back to that horrible school, and all of the kids there will realize the wrath of Team Rocket!" James giggled as he imagined his revenge. That Wheezing would smog the whole place, and make every living thing in the building suffer with asthma for weeks. (Don't worry; there are no animals in the school!)

James was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost passed Jessie on his way to the warehouse. He was surprised to see her sitting on the curb with her head in her hands. She had a sad, remorseful look on her face. Just then, James began to panic, worried that something had happened to their time-travelling jewel. He asked immediately, "Jessie, what's wrong? The ruby isn't missing, is it?"

Jessie sighed, not willing to look up. She replied, "that's one of two things gone." She recounted to him the conversation she and Meowth had the night before, and how she kicked him out to get the jewel from the warehouse, and how he hadn't come back since. "So today I've been all over looking for him, without any luck at all. No jewel to be found, either.

James looked at her, horrified. "You don't suppose…"

Jessie shrugged. "I don't know, but that's what I'm thinking. Meowth running away with the jewel is only one option, though. Something could've happened to him, too. That's why I've been looking all over today."

James nodded solemnly. "Either way then, we'd be stuck here with…" Both team members shuddered at their alternative fate.

"Why don't we just keep looking," James suggested. "Even if we have to sleep in the alleys at night. I know Meowth is too loyal to just leave us like that. I'm sure something must've happened to him. C'mon." Though intimidated by the large city, the two Rockets began searching for their missing member. They were careful to leave no public space unsearched. Even though the team members felt as though they were only wasting their time, they continued on, because without that ruby necklace they weren't going anywhere.

It was long after dusk when the Rockets returned to Katlyn's apartment. James dreaded to go back there, and had begged Jessie not to, but she promised to intervene if Katlyn began to act strange around him. They knocked and entered the apartment tired, sore and hungry. Both members ate their hamburgers so fast that Katlyn briefly wondered if she had remembered to feed them at all. After they had eaten and settled on the couch, Katlyn bombarded James with questions concerning their big day. Seeing as neither of the team members were in the mood, Katlyn decided to ask only her most important question. "How come you guys stayed out so late? You weren't trying to avoid me, were you?" Tiredly, James explained that they were out looking for Meowth, who had been missing since the previous night. Suddenly, the team looked up anxiously as they noticed Katlyn's eyes widening with horror. Under her breath they heard her mutter, "Brendan."

At once Jessie stood up and stared at her. "You know something. Tell me where he is." Katlyn shook her head. "Not in a million years. I think I know where he is, though; and if he's where I think he is, I won't be back for awhile. You two watch the place while I'm gone." Quickly and without hesitation, Katlyn put on her shoes and rapidly walked out the door.

Jessie turned to James and said, "She must know Meowth better than we do. Where do you think he went?"

James muttered, "he didn't go anywhere- he was taken! I knew something happened to him! And if Katlyn's not careful, something might happen to her, too." With a sigh James stood up and headed towards the door. "Even though it kills me to do this… I have to go and protect Katlyn. Did you get our poke-balls from the warehouse?"

"I tried to get Arbok to come out, but poke-balls won't work in this place. Besides all that, you're too weak to face even a Ratatta. I'd better go too. But let's hurry- she's probably already out of sight by now!"

James said, "that's because they bite…" But Jessie had her thoughts shifted elsewhere. They hurried out the door.

Katlyn stopped at an apartment complex located in the ghetto area of the city. It was a cool, pleasant evening, though unusually quiet. A rat scurried quickly across the street and disappeared into the hole of a nearby building. She knocked timidly on the worn door, but stood firmly as it opened. Brendon stood before her, beer can in hand. He smirked as he recognized her. "You're coming to _me_ this time? Did you change your mind about me, babe?" Katlyn's eyes flashed.

"My cat went missing last night. My friends and I were out looking for him all day today, and-"

"Your cat went missing, huh? Sorry to hear that. But hey," he put the beer can in her hand, "that should cheer you up some. Why don't you come in and chat? We'll have fun, just like we used to." Katlyn dropped the can as though it had been corrupted.

"I came here because I thought you had something to do with his disappearance. If you did, just say it so I can take him back and leave. If not, say you didn't so I can continue searching."

"Well," said Brendon, "as a matter of fact I did see your cat around the old warehouse today, carrying some sort of shiny jewel." He then pulled out a ruby necklace that he had been wearing around his neck. Katlyn flushed and began shaking.

"You have no business with me or my friends. That necklace probably belongs to him. Give him and the necklace back to me at once!"

"Now hold on," Brendon chided. "You have to do me a favor first. Let me meet that new boyfriend of yours, and let me see the whole reason you broke up with me. I'd like to wish him luck with you; he'll need it!" Laughing, Brendon closed the door, leaving Katlyn despairing in the cool night air.


End file.
